Dwayne LaFontant
Dwayne LaFontant, also known as the Verminator, is a supporting antagonist of DreamWorks' 12th full-length animated feature film, Over the Hedge. He is Gladys's former henchman. In the film, Dwayne was hired by Gladys to exterminate RJ and his friends, only to be defeated when the Depelter Turbo stings Vincent, Gladys, and himself. In the end, he manages to escape from the police, only to be bitten in the leg by Nugent upon climbing over a fence. He was voiced by Thomas Haden Church who also played Killer Moth, Lyle Van de Groot, and Sandman. Biography In Over the Hedge In the film, Dwayne is hired by Gladys Sharp as her main henchman to exterminate the animals. One day, Dwayne arrived and tried to kill Ozzie (who faked passing out), but the opossum got away and fled into the hedge. Shortly afterwards, Dwayne then smells Verne (whom he calls "Reptile") and bends over to capture Verne (who was under a car), but Verne had already escaped back into the hedge to meet up with the other animals. Dwayne installs a high-powered extermination system in Gladys's backyard, knowing that she would insist on wanting it. Later, after Gladys catches the animals in her house and gets sprayed by Stella the skunk, Dwayne arrives and is able to capture the animals except RJ, who left to return the restored food to Vincent. But when RJ sees Dwayne driving away with RJ's caged friends, the raccoon has a change of heart at the last moment and decides to go save them. The impact stuns Dwayne and frees the other animals, who turn the van around to go back home. Meanwhile, RJ is chased by Vincent atop the van. Verne eventually manages to convince the other animals that RJ's trying to help them and they all turn to help RJ defend himself from Vincent. Without control, Dwayne's van eventually makes a jump and flies through Gladys's house. RJ, Verne, and the others flee into the hedge, with Vincent on one side trying to claw them and Dwayne (who uses a cattle prod to shock the animals) and Gladys (who uses a weed hacker) on the other. RJ and Verne then have an idea, and have Hammy drink some soda and he causes the whole world to freeze. After that, Hammy walks into Gladys's backyard, activates the new extermination system called the Depelter Turbo, and then gets an idea and puts a little garden gnome behind Dwayne's foot. RJ, borrowing Verne's shell, uses himself as bait to lure Vincent into Gladys's backyard. Dwayne, Gladys, and Vincent fall into a pile as the Depelter Turbo comes on-line (due to them falling into the lasers), stinging them all. Gladys and Dwayne are arrested for illegal traps. While Gladys fights the cops and beats them up, Dwayne quietly escapes and climbs over a fence, only to be bitten on the leg (presumably) by Nugent after stepping on one of the Rottweiler's squeaky toys. It is unknown what happened to Dwayne after the events of the film, but it could be possible that the police eventually found and arrested him, along with Gladys. Personality Dwayne is a evocative, articulate, intelligent, and overzealous. He is a conniving, manipulative, surreptitious, pertinacious, and well-spoken person who takes his job extremely seriously. He will stop at nothing to exterminate RJ and his friends. Throughout the film, Dwayne appears to have some sort of crush on Gladys and teasingly calls her "Nancy", so she will stop complaining. Gallery Trivia * Throughout the film, Dwayne appears to have a crush on his boss, Gladys, despite her not returning the sentiment. * He is very similar to Stan Beals from The Ant Bully (another computer-animated film that also came out in 2006). ** Both are exterminators who take their job extremely seriously. ** Both attempted to kill the animals (The Ants and RJ), but failed. * He is called "The Sniffer" by the animals because he senses what kind of animal is surrounding him and what gender it is. * In the video game, he was voiced by Fred Tatasciore, who would later fill in for Thomas Haden Church as Sandman in the video game Spiderman: Friend or Foe. Category:Characters Category:Over the Hedge characters Category:Males Category:Humans Category:Business man Category:Hunters Category:Idiots Category:Villains Category:Cowards Category:Henchmen Category:Dreamworks animation characters